Programming

We’ll announce Season 8 Programming all the way up to the festival, so make sure to check back often!

Haven’t bought your Festival Badge yet? What are you waiting for – you don’t want to miss out on all this awesome programming! And don’t forget to take a little scroll down our amazing list of Season 8 Panelists, as well as our Season 8 Events!

A League of Their Own: 35 Years of Culture Defining Television on Lifetime

Date: TBA

From establishing the iconic television movie to critically acclaimed limited series and docuseries, Lifetime has been the premier destination for stories centered on the female POV for 35 years — and they’re just getting started. Join the executives & creatives behind the network’s latest scripted & unscripted content in this discussion on using TV to move the cultural needle, evolving with the medium, and the importance of narratives shaped for and by women.

ALTERNATINO WITH ARTURO CASTRO

Date: TBA

PILOT SCREENING. Alternatino with Arturo Castro continues Comedy Central’s legacy of culturally relevant sketch comedy using modern Latino identity (misconceptions and all) as a fresh filter for cultural commentary about daily life and the zeitgeist, all rooted in Castro’s personal experience.

Casting Anthologies presented by the Casting Society of America

Date: TBA

While the original Twilight Zone (1959) helped popularize the format, the anthology series has taken on new life with the success of series like True Detective, Fargo, and Black Mirror. It’s unique style of contained storytelling has attracted everyone from “movie stars,” to fresh faces, to troupes of familiar players looking for variety onscreen. In this conversation, join the Casting Directors behind these dynamic short-form series as they discuss the unique intricacies and challenges associated with casting both episodic and serial anthologies.

DARE ME presented by USA Network

Date: Friday, June 7

MARQUEE SCREENING. Based on the acclaimed novel by Megan Abbott, who serves as writer and executive producer along with Gina Fattore (Dawson’s Creek, Gilmore Girls), Dare Me dives into the cutthroat world of competitive high school cheerleading, following the fraught relationship between two best friends after a new coach (Willa Fitzgerald) arrives to bring their team to prominence. Part coming-of-age story, part small-town drama, part murder mystery, the series exposes the physical and psychological extremes that some young women are willing to endure in order to get ahead.

EVERYONE IS DOING GREAT

Date: TBA

NEW EPISODE. Seth and Jeremy enjoyed relative success from ‘Eternal’, a hit television vampire drama. Five years after their show has ended, they lean on each other as they struggle to reclaim their previous level of success and relevance, awkwardly navigating the perils of life and love amidst a humorously painful coming of age.

GOOD TROUBLE presented by Freeform

Date: TBA

SEASON 2 PREMIERE. Hailing from creators Joanna Johnson, Peter Paige, and Bradley Bredeweg, Good Trouble follows the Adams Foster siblings, Callie (Maia Mitchell) and Mariana (Cierra Ramirez), as they embark on the next adventure in their lives in Los Angeles.

Let’s Talk About Sex (Scenes)

Date: TBA

While it’s true that television productions are increasingly aware of the emotional & physical stakes of performers on-set — many writers, actors, and directors still struggle with how to safely navigate scenes that contain intimate or sexual content. Join the creatives involved in crafting these scenes from start to finish for an honest discussion about empowering both writers and actors, and improving safe “sex” practices behind the camera.

PERPETUAL GRACE, LTD.

Date: TBA

PILOT EPISODE. Perpetual Grace, LTD. follows James (Jimmi Simpson), a young grifter, as he attempts to prey upon Pastor Byron Brown (Sir Ben Kingsley), who turns out to be far more dangerous than he suspects. The pastor and his wife Lillian (Jacki Weaver)—known to their parishioners as Pa and Ma—have used religion to bilk hundreds of innocent people out of their life savings.

Presidents of the Guilds

Date: TBA

For the first time on a single stage, the leaders of some of the most prominent entertainment unions and guilds will take part in a discussion about what goes in to shaping the forward-movement of the industry, the state of television, the ongoing push for equal pay, equal opportunity, and safety standards across all of entertainment, and the importance of fostering a creative culture.

Following the 2016 presidential election, U.S. culture saw a dangerous rise in anti-Muslim sentiment, rousing many in the entertainment industry to resist with a counter-narrative of inclusion. Within days MPAC (the Muslim Public Affairs Council) was flooded with inquiries requesting consultation on television shows with Muslim characters and recommendations for repped Muslim screenwriters to join their writers rooms. This panel of TV creatives, executives, and consultants discuss how they’ve impacted the industry in the last two years by raising the quantity and quality of Muslim characters; their efforts to increase visibility on and off-screen; and the forward-thinking importance of turning this moment into a sustained movement.

SHERMAN’S SHOWCASE

Date: TBA

PILOT SCREENING. Drawing inspiration from dance/variety shows like of Solid Gold, Soul Train and Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-In, each episode of Sherman’s Showcase is hosted by Sherman McDaniels (Salahuddin), as he takes viewers through time, via music and comedy drawn from the 40-year library of a legendary (but fictional) musical variety show. Whether it’s a questionably attired funk super group in the 1970s, an up-and-coming MC in the 1980s, or an R&B diva from the 1990s, Sherman’s Showcase has it all: music, comedy, famous guest stars and dancing.

The Female Gaze

Date: TBA

The “male gaze,” largely acknowledged as “the act of depicting women and the world from a masculine, heterosexual perspective that represents women as sexual objects,” has been the dominant viewpoint since the beginning of art and culture — but what happens when women become the subject instead of the object? This conversation will explore the “female gaze” with writers & directors who are reclaiming female agency by (figuratively and literally) shifting viewers’ perspectives, and telling stories that unapologetically place women and their world view at the center.

The House that Horror Built: Inside Blumhouse Television

Date: TBA

A unique case study of Blumhouse Television’s journey from the go-to producer of low-budget horror hits, to a multi-genre, consumer-facing studio with a growing presence in TV — and a penchant for finding the unsettling in every-day stories.

The Power of Female Partnerships

Date: Thursday, June 6

Though the television industry may at times be ruthless, there are countless powerful stories of female partnerships that thrive despite the industry’s hyper-competitive nature. In this panel, we’ll explore several amazing friendships between women who partnered up at the beginning of their careers or at some point along the way (temporarily or permanently) to encourage one another, create a culture of empowerment, and produce some great TV.

TREMORS

Date: TBA

Join the creative team & cast behind the unaired TREMORS for a unique discussion on taking the series from film to TV, featuring select clips, a partial script reading, and Q&A discussion with cast & creatives.